


Into the Shadows

by pythaglorious



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Dark Luke, M/M, Sith Luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-18 16:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5934493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pythaglorious/pseuds/pythaglorious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was no choice between the Dark or the Light. There was only the choice between saving Han or letting him die.</p><p>Luke knew what he had to do.</p><p>A Dark!Luke AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Into the Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to [lauren](http://darthmalaak.tumblr.com/) as revenge for [this fic.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4232991/) good luck.
> 
> special thanks to [jane](http://agentsofstarling.tumblr.com/) for taking one for the team & proofing/listening to me ramble about this fic for the past few days.

PART I 

“You can not hide forever, Luke.”

Luke knew that Vader was right. He would have to show himself eventually. And after he did, he had two choices: fight his way out, or refuse and die at the hands of his father. He felt anger bubble up inside of him at that, attempting to push it back down. “I will not fight you,” he insisted.

Luke heard the sound of his father’s mechanical breathing. He wondered what was underneath his mask. Staring at the Imperial Crest that adorned a gray wall across from his place in the shadows, he let his mind wander back to his friends on the ground far below the ship. Anxiety rose in his throat. He tried to force the thoughts from his mind, knowing Vader would use them against him. 

“Give yourself to the Dark Side.”

_No._

“It is the only way to save your friends.”

Vader had to be lying. Han and Leia knew what they were doing. Luke trusted them. They would be fine. They had to be fine.

“Yes,” Vader hissed, “your thoughts betray you.”

Luke chided himself for letting Vader see this far into his mind. Luke could feel his father inside his head, but he didn’t have the strength to force him out. He resented himself for that.

“Your feelings for them are strong…”

Luke tried desperately to keep Vader away from thoughts of Han, to keep the one person who was truly his safe.

“Especially for… the smuggler.”

Luke was fairly certain if not for the damned mask he would see a smirk on Vader’s face. He felt anger boiling in the pit of his stomach. White hot anger, like he had never felt before. Han. He had to protect Han. He was sure Vader knew what the man meant to his son now.

Vader had taken everything from Luke. He is the reason Luke grew up without his family. The reason he could never truly have a father. The reason Obi-Wan was dead. He cursed himself for letting Vader take that from him too.

“You don’t get to know about him,” Luke heard himself as he spat.

“You are in love. With Han Solo. Your feelings have now betrayed him too.”

Vader was right. He betrayed Han. Now he had to keep Han safe. No matter what.

“He will die if you do not join me, Luke.”

Luke couldn’t believe him, he had to have faith in Han. But the thought of losing him…

Vader was right. They had never truly told each other, but… Luke was in love with Han. Luke would never get the chance to tell him if he did not do everything in his power to save his… his friend. His lover. Whatever the hell you could call them.

“I can feel your fear, my son.”

Vader was right once again. Luke was scared for Han. Terrified. He felt his mind slipping away, being replaced by something much more animal. Something driven by instinct. Right now, his instincts were screaming at him to protect Han.

There was no choice between the Dark or the Light. There was only the choice between saving Han or letting him die.

Luke knew what he had to do.

“Okay.”

He heard a nearly surprised intake of mechanical breath.

Luke paused for a moment. He knew he had to do this. It was his only choice.

“I will join you, father.”

Luke felt himself as he slowly let in the anger, the hate that he was taught to suppress under the instruction of Obi-Wan and Yoda. He felt himself growing more powerful.

Vader moved too quickly for Luke to register what he was doing. The Emperor had already risen, presumably to plan Luke’s ‘Welcome To the Dark Side’ festivities, or whatever one does when one becomes a Sith.

On second thought, there are probably no festivities involved. Just training. A lot of training, presumably. Once Luke could register what was happening, he saw his father driving his red blade through the Emperor’s heart.

He fell to the ground, limp. Lifeless. Luke began to second guess his choice to join Vader. Then he remembered Han. _He had to save Han._

“Father?”

“He would have had you kill me, Luke. What I did was the way of the Sith order. You will learn in time, my son.”

He felt himself kneel before his father, barely registering his actions.

“Father, I… I pledge myself to your teachings. I will do…” Luke paused.

He felt fear.

He felt himself slipping away.

_Han._

“I will do anything you ask of me, if only you ensure Han’s survival.”

Luke heard mechanical laughter.

“Of course, My Son. When you rise,  Luke Skywalker will cease to exist. You will now be known as… Darth Lucius.”

He pondered his new title for a moment.

He decided that he liked it. It felt right, as if he had been waiting his whole life for the new name.

Perhaps he had. Perhaps this really was his destiny. Perhaps this was truly driven by the will of the force and not by his love for Han alone.

He rose from where he was kneeling, eyes meeting Vader’s mask as he heard him ordering the troopers to ceasefire on the rebels and to take them into custody alive.

“Let us go and see your friends.”

§

Within the hour, the stormtroopers had Han and Leia aboard the Death Star II. According to Vader, they had suffered minimal injuries being taken into custody. It was decided that Luke and Luke alone would talk to them and convince them to join the Empire. If they refused, Vader had ordered Luke to kill them.

Luke told himself he had to be prepared to kill them.

Luke knew he couldn’t kill them.

He had to stop thinking of himself as Luke Skywalker. His name was Darth Lucius.

In the short time since he had accepted the Dark Side of the force, he already felt himself growing in power. He let himself be guided by his passions. He let himself be free of the weakness of the Jedi order.

He slowly opened the door to one of the many interrogation rooms of the second Death Star. He could feel Han and Leia through the force. He could feel their fear. Lucius wished that he could take it away.

“Han. Leia.”

Lucius’ voice sounded different, even to him. It radiated raw power, power he could never have attained had he followed the way of the Jedi. He belonged with the Sith. With his father. He had to believe it. It was the only thing that had saved Han.

Both Han and Leia’s hands were chained behind their backs to simple steel chairs, beside each other, seated behind a table.

“Luke… what’s going on?”

Lucius looked into the eyes of Han Solo. There was a pang in his chest. He felt all the hurt, all the confusion. All  the fear.

“That is not my name anymore.” Lucius heard his voice waver. He hated himself for it 

“No.”

This time it was Leia who spoke up. Her voice was firm, not betrayed by the terror Lucius could feel radiating from his sister’s mind.

“Luke, what do you mean? You haven’t…” Han’s voice wandered off.

In that instant, Lucius knew he had done exactly what Han was afraid of.

“My name is Darth Lucius.”

The room was silent for a moment.

“What have you done?” Han’s voice was soft.

Lucius features hardened. “I did what I had to do to save you.”

“Luke, what do you mean?” Han asked. Lucius could hear the guilt in Han’s voice. He wanted nothing more than to take all of the guilt, all of the fear, away from him. And, perhaps worse, Lucius knew that he could, if only Han would embrace the Empire, embrace the Dark Side.

“You would have been killed,” Lucius replied, trying to keep his voice even, as if the thought did not make him sick.

“We had it under control,” Leia’s voice wavered. Lucius knew she was lying.

“If you truly had it under control, you would not be here, Sister.”

The room fell into silence.

“Join me. 

“You know we can’t.”

Despite the regained strength of Leia’s voice, he could tell that the offer tempted her. He could feel it. He just had to push them over the edge. Help them to accept the Dark Side.

 “It is your destiny, Leia,” Lucius turned to Han, “And you, Han… you belong here. You belong with me.”

“Not like this.”

Lucius could not accept his answer. This had to work.

“Han, please.”

Lucius heard the pain in his own voice.

“We can’t join the Dark Side, Luke, we don’t belong here. Neither do you. 

Even in the dim lighting of the room, he could see tears running down Han’s cheeks. And Lucius knew he was the cause for Han’s pain. 

He clenched his fists. “Yes I do. It is my destiny.”

“Is that what Vader’s been telling you? _Don’t let yourself fall into his trap.”_ Leia was beginning to plead. She was getting desperate. Lucius was too. 

“I didn’t fall into a trap, Leia! I did this for you, for both of you.” 

“I would rather have died than see you turn into this,” Han’s voice rough through his tears. 

His words tore through Lucius’ heart. Or perhaps it tore through the heart of whatever remained of Luke Skywalker. 

“I couldn’t let you die, Han! Don’t you get that,” Lucius snapped, “Not when Vader promised you wouldn’t if I joined him.” 

The blue of Lucius’ eyes met the hazel of Han’s own.

“Han, I did this because I love you.” 

“Luke… I can’t give into evil. Not even for you.” 

No. No. _No._ Han had it all wrong. Lucius had to convince him. He wasn’t sure what he’d do without his– without his… without Han. However you could define their relationship. They were more than friends, that much was certain.

“The Sith order is not about evil, Han. It is only about power. The Jedi order is about weakness. Weakness that Vader will help me be free of.” 

“Luke, you can’t mean this…” Silent tears ran down Leia’s cheeks.

Lucius felt rage grow inside him. Finally, he did not suppress it.

He heard himself as he began to shout. “Stop calling me that!” 

 _“No!”_ Han demanded, “No. I will never stop calling you that until I know… until I _know_ that the man I love is gone.”

Lucius knew Han’s thoughts. Felt his pain. It was deafening.

Han loved him.

“Luke, come back to the Light,” Leia looked at her brother. Her expression was timid but her resolve was firm.

“It is too late, Sister.”

Lucius wished that it wasn’t. 

“Luke you can’t be gone…” Han ventured. 

“Luke Skywalker does not exist, Han! Can’t you understand that?” Lucius voice became more and more desperate. He stepped closer to where Han was chained, lowering his voice, “The _only_ way to keep me is to join me. If you don’t…” Luke’s voice tapered off into silence. He could not finish that sentence. 

Even still, he knew he would not be able to kill them. 

He would not be able to kill Han. He turned to save Han. He could not give that up. 

He tried to keep his voice even as he broke the silence.

_“Get out.”_

Confusion etched itself across the features of both Han and Leia. 

“I will leave this room. You will have roughly fifteen minutes before Darth Vader will have time to… visit you. You will have fifteen minutes to escape. If you do, I will not stop you.”

Lucius  turned to walk away, before stopping and turning back to Han, placing his lips upon the other's in a final goodbye.

Han tasted of a home that Lucius could never return to. 

“Do not come looking for me. It is already too late.”

He walked through the door of the interrogation room without looking back.

PART II

Lucius had been training with Vader for nearly two years when the news came. They had spies in the Rebellion, and a few had managed to climb the ranks. So the Empire knew the plan. They knew to set a trap. And they knew that Han and Leia would fall into it.

Lucius was reluctant to accept the plan when his father outlined it to him. It would be his final step in truly accepting the Dark Side. He would kill his sister.

“Father… I don’t know if I can do it.” 

Vader was silent for a moment. 

“I have faith in you, My Son. You have not let me down since your moment of weakness on the second Death Star. You have grown stronger since then.” 

Lucius knew it was true. In the time since he had let Han and Leia escape Death Star II, he had trained ceaselessly. When his father was not preoccupied with the duties of being the Emperor and with his plans for Galactic domination and whatnot, he always helped his son grow stronger with the Dark Side. The only things chaining him to the light were Han and Leia. 

Leia must die. She had too much of her mother inside of her to turn as Luke did. Lucius would try once more to convince Han to join them. If he failed to do so, Han must die too.

This time Lucius had to kill them.

He almost hoped that he would fail.

He chided himself for thinking that way. They’d both already had chances to make the right decision. They failed where Lucius had succeeded. He let himself feel a sick sense of satisfaction in that.

§

The plan to assassinate Vader and bring Luke back to the Light had gone perfectly according to plan. Until it didn’t. They successfully snuck onto Imperial Center and into the Palace. Han tried to prepare himself for seeing Luke.  Or rather, Darth Lucius. He knew the man he would see inside the Palace was not the man he knew. Darth Lucius had become something of a legend throughout the Empire. The stories told of what his lover had become sounded nothing like the Luke that Han had once known. The Luke that Han had fallen in love with in what felt like a time long past. Han missed Luke more than he could put into words. He could never have become the man that was Darth Lucius. 

Vader had ruined Luke Skywalker. He would pay.

The Rebellion was incredibly hesitant to stoop as low as assassination, but it was their only hope. They had lost Luke and the Empire grew stronger because of it.

On the surface, everything went according to plan. However, once they were inside the Palace everything, essentially, went to shit.

They were nearly to Vader’s personal quarters when Han realized, much too late, that it was a trap. Somehow, the Empire knew about their plan. There was a traitor in the Rebellion. Someone high ranking enough to know about the assassination plot. Han should have seen this coming. He should have known. 

Luke would have. 

A sea of red figures glided out from two of the doorways that lined the hallway, flooding into the long corridor. They were surrounded by Imperial Guards, faceless in their cloaks and masks. After a moment, Luke parted the circle of guards, Vader close behind him. The red figures dispersed, staying close enough to intervene if need be. 

“It was foolish of you to come here.”

There was something much different about Luke. Though Han knew there would be, it was still shocking to see him like this. His presence was darker, more powerful. More dangerous. He met the other man’s gaze, searching his eyes for some remnant of the man he loved. He found none.

Luke’s once blue eyes were now replaced with a sickening Sith yellow.

Han felt something break inside of him.

“I couldn’t just give up on you.”

Both Han and Leia knew their plan would never work, not now. The only way to escape would be to convince Luke to come home. Han wasn’t sure if he could.

“Han, you can still join the Empire,” Lucius gazed still fixed on him. Han knew it should have felt uncomfortable. Somehow, it just felt like home.

If it weren’t for Leia, Han thought, he may have actually given in. Gone with Lucius. Joined the Empire

That thought of that scared him. However, it did not go unnoticed that the offer was not extended to Luke’s sister. Han would not abandon her. Could not.

Because Han knew that if Luke had not been replaced by the monster that stood before him, he would never have forgiven Han for betraying her.

“I can’t, Luke. I can’t leave Leia. I’m sorry.”

Silence hung over the four for a moment.

“Kill them.” Vader’s voice was mechanical and unforgiving.

Han saw something like confusion flash behind Lucius’ features, but it was quickly masked.

“But Father—

“Lucius, can’t you see Han will never join us? Not with _her_ around,” Vader gestured venomously towards Leia.

“Father,What do you mean with _‘her’_ around?” Han could tell Lucius angry. More angry than Han had ever seen him. It was terrifying.

“Can’t you see, My Son? She has stolen him from you. He doesn’t love you anymore. He loves _her.”_

“Luke, that’s not true. Luke—” Han began.

“Kill her first. Kill your sister.” Vader ordered.

Lucius turned dangerously to Leia.

“Luke, it’s not true!” She pleaded.

Luke had to know it was a lie.

“My own _sister_ ,” he spat.

He drew his lightsaber from the clip on his belt. The Imperial Guards still stood, motionlessly watching. His now red blade sprung into life. Leia began to back up before she realized she had nowhere she could run to.

Luke moved to strike Leia with his blade. Han, acting on pure instinct, pushed her out of the way. He realized a moment too late that the blade was not going for her chest, but for her shoulder. Perhaps Lucius would try to pass it off as poor aim in a fit of anger. It was clear to Han, though, that Lucius was not going to kill his sister.  Han felt as the blade tore through his own chest. He looked up into the face of Luke Skywalker. His friend. His lover. His killer. He saw the yellow eyes flash blue once again. The man before him looked like something of a child who had just been hit.  Behind his eyes lay unmistakable greif. Unmistakable guilt. Unmistakable love. That was enough for Han. He let himself slip into oblivion.

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, sorry about that. comments and kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> stop by [my tumblr](http://mivyard.tumblr.com/) if you want to keep up with me in between posts on here!


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